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Friday, June 20, 2008

Have you ever tried buckwheat (kasha)?

I had never tried buckwheat before but I was in my local health food/grocery market and I ended up speaking to a girl who had just moved here from the Ukraine and she was looking for a couple of things in the bulk food section and she wondered if I could help her. We were able to finding some grain that she could use for sprouting to make bread with. Then she got some some buckwheat or kasha. I asked her what she did with it and she very simply told me that "they ate it". We had a bit of a language barrier so I decided to buy about a cup of it and then look online as to how to cook it up.

Apparently is is treat like rice. 1 cup of buckwheat to 2 cups of liquid. I just cooked it in water with salt. I then let it cool and made a nice salad out of it for my lunch!

Boil 2 cups of water. Add salt and then add the buckwheat. Turn the heat to the lowest setting and cover and allow to cook for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from pot and allow to cool.

Cook the beans in boiling water until tender-crisp. Once at the texture that you want for a salad place the beans in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together.

Mix the buckwheat, beans, onion and dressing together and chill.

This makes enough salad for a lunch for 4.

I loved this salad. It taste fresh and earthy all at the same time. The buckwheat has a stronger more wild taste than any other grain that I have tasted. For more information about the health benefits of buckwheat click here.

I freaking LOVE kasha! It makes a great breakfast cereal too, like oatmeal but better! It is great with beans (a la beans and rice) and I also love to put it with lentils for a veggie burger type thingie.

i love green beans. period. i also know that i love buckwheat pancakes. using that knowledge and my awesome powers of deduction, i'm convinced that i'd love this salad. good for you for trying something new!

Yeap in russian Buckwheat is "Grechka" Buckwheat is a grain that is used almost daily in preparation of food among Slavic people. Usually it's alone, like rice, or you can add some shredded beef, or finely chopped mushrooms of your choice or some vegies, and eaten with a side of salad and any kind of meat dish, beef, chicken, pork etc....